Dealership Delays

[Dtwm1]

Hi I'm having a god awful time with my dealer at the moment.

I ordered my A3 on the 23/6 and the order form gave an estimated delivery date of 31/7. A few days later I got the call to say all the pcp stuff was fine but now the car should arrive mid august, this didn't really bother me as I wanted a '64 plate and my current car doesn't go back till 20/9. I had no updates from the dealer unless I rang and left a message which I'd get a reply 48 hours later. The car has been pushed back and pushed back now until "probably mid October" given that is about right for BW36.
The main issue I had no idea about the audi ordering system until after I had ordered and feel that he's given me a date that sounded good in order to do the deal there and then. Secondly, I go back to university next weekend and offered to go into the dealership and sort any remaining paperwork that needed to be done as it's 40 minutes away not 3 hours as uni is but because the car isn't in the country and I can't sign anything and the only solution he could offer so to go in on the day of collection, sign the forms and hang around till they get approved "hopefully within a few hours" he said. The only thing my sales man can say is "David I want the car more than you so I get paid my commission" and "When we order cars we have to guess the arrival date as we don't know factory demands" like they have never ordered an A3 before.

This means I have to miss a day of uni (not that gutted about) and get the train back (cost) and be without a car for 2 weeks.

Any thoughts/advice is welcome.

 

[Liquidfusion-S3]

Welcome to the forum, in regards to your above situation his word of building a new car within 5 weeks was unrealistic as it could take anything from 2 months - 7 months depending on the backlog. My feeling is he wanted the quick sale whatever the outcome was, being a seller this is what they do and you can't place your faith in them when it comes to build dates, expect the worst hope for the best.

The current build time I believe for the hatchback is 2-3 months so it sounds about right from what was said above. It's possible there was a car in the pipeline which was coming but have been sold off to someone else.

I know there will be people here who would say kick up a fuss and request for a loan car.

You basically have 3 options.

1) Kick up a fuss and demand a loan car for 2 weeks (good luck)
2) Suck it up and live without a car for 2 weeks, take public transport if you have to.
3) Demand a refund (if any) and tell him he's lost a sale.

By the way the 64 plate only came out on 1st September, there is no way you would of got that anytime before it, even if he said so.

 

[A3_Rider]

Feel better?

Annoying isn't it? Unfortunately they only care about the sale, obviously if they could get it sooner they would in order to receive funds from you, the factory had a summer break and came back last week so all the orders shoved in since June/July must have been added to the August pile and prepared for September.

Mid Oct does seem about right, though I wouldn't be surprised if there is further delays.

The 3 options pretty much sum it up, on the bright side..dude...you're getting a nice new A3!

 

[discodeek]

had this on an order earlier in the year for my wifes car - new a3 cab s sline - was pushed back on numerous occasions -suspect he was at it from day one - after complaining, to which i got one to many smarmy replies -i was going to either bitch slap him or cancel - went in one day, demanded a refund to which he had to go to his boss for authorisation and cancelled the order - prob not a massive deal as it was just the one car to them, but we drove straight to another dealership and ordered another Audi.

waited 7 months on my current A5 which had delays of prob 10 weeks, as someone said above, if you really want it then you just have to suck it up -it will be worth it !!

 

[tankclark]

As my thread has just explained I ordered at the start of August a Sportback S3 and was told late December, I get updates every 3 weeks which I'm happy with, today I get a phone call to be told the order has gone through and the factory have quoted Feb-March for delivery!!!! He said he has had a jiggle around and managed to source an A3 slot for my S3 and the delivery estimate has been revised to last week of December to first week of Jan.
Mine is quite high spec at £39,700 so not sure if certain options are causing delays but a manufacturer that produces 2700 cars a day certainly shouldn't be taking 8 months to build a car!!

 

[Liquidfusion-S3]

Where did you get the number 2700? That's a bit optimistic....

You have to remember this A3/S3 saloon was mainly marketed at the US and China and they probably get the bulk of their orders from them hence the huge backlog.

 

[Dtwm1]

Just an update for those interested. I met with the head of business at my dealership today, I told him my situation and he admitted that there was a 90% chance a car wouldn't come in 5 weeks etc. He seemed pretty gutted that his sales people are employing these tactics to gain sales too. He agreed that it's down to their false/unrealistic dates that I will be without a car as if I had known to begin with I could of gone elsewhere.
He wasn't impressed that other than a thank you letter 3 days after my order I hadn't been contacted, all the communication logged was them just returning my calls.

To cut a 90 minute meeting very sort he is going to investigate what's gone on - to quote "for those involved with your order today won't be a good day", oversee the rest of my order personally and best of all gave me an a3 SB there and then to keep me mobile whilst I go back to uni and wait for my car. As Borat would say "great success"

 

[Xsr8]

Sorry to hear you've had a crappy experience. I'd have told them they secured your business based on a very misleading sales pitch and demand a discount or you take it to another dealer.

 

[Dtwm1]

I know where you're coming from xsr8 but I think I got a ****** good deal, I tried elsewhere and they simply weren't interested and I'm not really in a position to keep waiting.

I'm happy with the solution if I'm honest.

 

[A3_Rider]

I'd have thought of you a right idiot if you tried to push for a discount at this stage, the manager is aware of what's going on, he's the one driving the sales, which isn't a bad thing, but its good of him to keep you mobile.

My recent headache with Audi is making me think I should have gone to BMW -.-

 

[Dtwm1]

I'm really glad I went instead of taking the easy option and emailing Audi uk etc. I agree a3_rider if I went in shouting the place down wanting money off the meeting would of taken on a different tone altogether, instead I presented him with some real issues, how I feel and affects me and let him come back with an answer.

I saw at least 5/6 m135i's around manchester today and 1 s3, I'm sure it will be worth it.